Climate bulletin - January 2014

Summary of the world's climate in January 2014.

The global average temperature for January 2014 was 0.51 ± 0.17 °C above the 1961-1990 average. Sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Tropical Pacific remained close to the long-term average, but together with other indicators, conditions were still El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral.

During January, the global average air temperature over land was warmer than the long-term average (0.95 ± 0.37 °C). The United States and Canada were warmer than average in the west, particularly in the far north and west, but colder than average in the east. Most of southern Eurasia was warmer than average, the exceptions being the far north and south east as well as Kazakhstan. In the southern hemisphere, temperatures were generally above average, with New Zealand, the southern tip of South America, an area around Bolivia and parts of Australia being cooler than average.

SSTs were generally warmer than average in January. Large areas of unusual warmth were recorded in the North Pacific, parts of the North Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and Western Pacific. Areas of unusually cold waters were more limited with the most extensive areas appearing in the south west of the Atlantic. The great lakes were also notably colder than average.